Online Projects

Each of the following surveys examines a different
aspect of your personality. At the end of each one, you
will get feedback about your performance along with information about the
research behind it. Although many people report that they find the surveys or exercises valuable in revealing insights into their personality, you should approach any feedback you get as a form of entertainment rather than solid truth.

Background Information. Let's start here with a general check on your basic behaviors, values, and world views. There are about 50 questions that will take you about 3-4 minutes to complete. You will get some feedback about your general life, health, and prospects for the future.

Texas Archive Project. This new project explores how people deal with big secrets in their lives. We are seeking volunteers who will let us analyze some of their emails. We pay $100 for participating. To learn more, click on the link.

Personality: Describing yourself. This is a serious task that requires you to describe who you are in your own words for a full 15 minutes. Using a new state-of-the-art statistical method, the computer gives you feedback about the ways that you see yourself and the world around you. Although this takes a real 15-minute commitment, you won't be disappointed.

The LIFE Survey:
What do your daily behaviors reveal about your personality?
Check out this questionnaire to find out. The entire
questionnaire takes about 8 minutes and provides feedback
about your behavioral type.

The PILL questionnaire. This is a 54-item symptom questionnaire that measures the degree to which people are aware of their various physical sensations and bodily symptoms. Take the survey and see how you compare with others. It should take about 3 minutes.

A projective test: The TAT. This is a classic test where you will first see a picture or drawing. You will then have 10 minutes to write story that describes what is happening to the people in the picture. After writing, you will get feedback about aspects of your personality. A classic.

The Big Five questionnaire. Perhaps the most popular way of thinking about traits comes from researchers who argue that there are five central traits of personality. Fill out this 41-item version to see where you stand.

The Buddha Survey: Are you enlightened? Check out this 12-item questionnaire with immediate feedback. Ommmmmmmmmmmmm.... (translation: you get no money for this one; just self-knowledge).

The Mind Survey. This project comes from the Mental Control Laboratory at Harvard University. Explore how you rate different pictures and objects. The purpose of this survey is to measure how people perceive the minds and mental abilities of human and non-human agents.

Oh, and lest we forget:
All your responses are anonymous and confidential. If you are under the age of
18, you must get the permission of a parent or legal guardian to complete
the questionnaire. If you find any question to be objectionable, do not
answer it. If you feel that you have reached this webpage by mistake,
you have the right to turn off your computer and take a very deep breath.
If you do not want to learn anything about yourself, do not complete any
of the questionnaires. If you enjoy reading the fine print of consent
forms, there are a number of high paying and important career paths available
for you. Indeed, if you are such a person, you are encouraged to read
and reread this consent form over and over again. If you have no questions
and believe that your actions are guided by your own free will (which
may, in fact, be an illusion), please continue.

Want to know more about this research?
Contact James W. Pennebaker,
Professor of Psychology, at the University of Texas at Austin.